Blood glucose guidelines
Blood sugar guidelines Absolute numbers vary between pets, and with meter calibrations. The numbers below are as shown on a typical home glucometer while hometesting blood glucose, not necessarily the more accurate numbers a vet would see (though many vets use meters similar to those used in hometesting). For general guidelines only, the levels to watch are approximately: What's too high? At high readings, combined with inadequate administration of insulin, and not eating or drinking enough, or an infection, animals can sometimes quickly develop diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), which is immediately life-threatening. Always check urine for ketones at high readings. Of course, cats at much lower levels who have inadequate insulin supply coupled with infection, dehydration, or fasting can also develop ketones. Some vets use a "sliding scale" regarding maximum permissible blood glucose values in dogs, "allowing" blind dogs or dogs with cataracts to use the concept of remaining under 250 at all times, with sighted dogs and dogs without cataracts ideally under 200. Others apply the "under 200"Valley Animal Hospital Diabetes for Dummies-Why is it Critical to Keep Glucose at 80-200 for dogs at all times without exceptions. Evidence from humans, mice, and in-vitro tissue studies show that damage to the pancreatic beta cells (the ones that make insulin) continues down to levels as low as 140mg/dL.Research connecting organ damage with Blood Sugar level-Phlaunt. This is why the AACE guidelinesNew AACE guidelines for Type-2 glucose average, 1999 recommend average blood sugars (for humans) of no more than 170, preferably between 65 and 136.Conversion from HbA1c to Blood Glucose level-Diabetic Gourmet See hyperglycemia. Factors Which Can Affect Readings Why you still need Ketostix/Ketodiastix While home testing blood with a meter can tell you what your pet's blood glucose levels are, most can't do blood ketone testing. When you have high blood glucose levels, doing ketone testing with Ketodiastix or Ketostix is good practice to make sure your pet doesn't have ketones. Good BG Readings but Positive Ketone Results When the bg readings are high enough to produce some ketones, you've taken action to bring them down and they are normal once more, it is possible to still see some positive urine ketone test results. Ketones show up in the urine right away. When you're getting normal bg readings, it means that there are no more ketones being produced. What you are seeing when you test urine for ketones and the blood glucose is in normal ranges are the "leftovers" of the ketones which were produced by the high bg episode. They will continue to show up in the urine for a while but their concentration will become less and less until they're goneInsulin Dependent Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Adults-Dr. Ragnar Hanas-Page 11--Important-KetonesUrine Ketones Decrease Slowly-Children With Diabetes. Renal threshold The renal threshold for glucose is defined as the blood glucose level where the kidneys begin excreting excess glucose into the urine. Certain side effects on the urinary tract begin at this level, and it's also fairly close to the level where other organ damage seems to occur, though there's no actual causal relationship. This number is a bit different for every animalDistrict of Columbia Academy of Veterinary Medicine 2006-Harvesting the Gold-Urinalysis. Polyuria in diabetes shows that the body is unable to metabolize carbohydrates properly. Carbohydrates are turned into glucose, which is sent into the blood to feed the cells. The cells, lacking insulin, can't accept the glucose, so it remains in the blood causing hyperglycemia. The extra glucose in the blood accumulates there until the kidneys see it as an impurity to be filtered out and discarded. This point is known as the renal threshold. When the renal threshold is exceeded, and the excess glucose begins to spill into the urinary tract, the glucose makes the urine attract water in what's known as the osmotic effect. This extra water in the urine causes the excessive urination, dehydrating the body, which in turn causes the excessive drinking of polydipsia. While dogs and humans share the same renal threshold value of 180 mg/dl (10 mmol/L), the renal threshold of cats is 288 mg/dl (16 mmol/L); in cattle it's 108 mg/dl (6 mmol/L)District of Columbia Academy of Veterinary Medicine 2006-Harvesting the Gold-Urinalysis. What's normal? Normal blood glucose values for non-diabetic cats and dogsNew Hope Animal Hospital-Canine Diabetes Mellitus range from 80-150 as measured on a vet's glucometer. Home glucometers used on animals tend to read a bit lower in the below-80 ranges becauuse of the difference in size of red blood cells (erythrocytes) between speciesDiabetes Mellitus-DVM 360-2009 and so will frequently show lower numbers (see chart above) that are not cause for alarm. Diabetes being the "individual" disease it is, allows for many personal exceptions. A dog on the canine diabetes message board Canine Diabetes Message Board who was tightly controlled developed hypoglycemia symptoms every time his blood sugar dropped to 85 or below. The solution was to slightly reduce his insulin which kept him at slightly higher bg levels. Interpretation Note that no single blood glucose reading is adequate to establish insulin dosage or recommended treatment. Blood glucose levels should be checked before each shot, but that alone is also not enough to determine if treatment is working. Please see curve and regulation and duration for more information on this tricky subject. A single blood glucose reading is like a snapshot or a movie frame; it's a picture of how things were at that particular moment in time. While a movie frame can give us some information about its subject, it's when we put frame after frame together that we're able to see even more. If you see a cartoon of Mickey Mouse, you immediately recognize him, but Mickey really comes to "life" in animation. You see how he walks and talks, what he does and who his friends are. It's very much the same with blood glucose readings--the more of them you have, the easier it is to see where you're doing well and where you need to improveBlood Glucose Averages-BD Diabetes. More Information *Healthy Blood Sugar Targets (for humans, long term)-Phlaunt *Blood glucose converter-mg/dl to mmol/L and vice-versa-Children With Diabetes References Category:Introduction Category:Regulation Category:Terms Category:Content